1996...

This story has been told in our personal circle many times, so for close friends and family, please, TL:DR...

Evelia was actually the one who asked me out.

3 times.

We were both Public Transit Drivers for the IU Campus Bus Service. I was single, on strike 2 at pursuing a degree, very shy (seriously, not the adorable and outgoing person I am today), and absolutely uninterested in dating in any way whatsoever.

Evelia was a single parent, a student (12 credit hours) and a full-time IU Bus Driver. She was also obnoxiously extroverted.

For reasons that are still to this day unclear to me, she started hitting on me almost immediately.

I said no.

I said no again.

The third time she caught me at the IU Bus Garage between shifts, pulled me aside, and said something to the effect of. "Look, it doesn't have to be a date or anything. Between work, school, and the kids, I never get a chance to just go see a movie and have a hamburger with another adult. You're kind of cute and it doesn't seem like you have any friends, so I simply thought it might be nice to hang together sometime. No pressure."

We've now been together for 37(ish) years...

{Photo originally taken by Chris Rund}